Just changed my oil and I noticed red specs on my dipstick. The upper inner part of my oil cap looks gross too. What does this mean? pictures keep failing to upload.
Hard metallic bits of red or soft rubbery bits of red? Red is not a common color inside a motor. Specs of rust can be that color, and if it is rust the specs will be hard and maybe crumbly. They might move if you put a big magnet near them, if there is some metallic iron buried inside. Rubber seals or gaskets are the only other solid thing I can think of that might be red. If that is what this is the specs will be soft and squishy. The coolant is red too, although not very, and it isn't solid. I suppose if you have a leaking head gasket some of the coolant colorant might precipitate out to make specks. Usually it would be more of a foamy look. Coolant in the oil does end up under the oil filler cap, but on most cars it forms an emulsion, so it looks more like a milk shake, not specks. If I really had to guess it would be bits of some red gasket which is breaking down, or possibly somebody changed the head gasket and used some red RTV Permatex® Ultra Red® RTV Silicone Gasket Maker, 3 OZ – Permatex instead of an actual gasket, and that is breaking up.
The CVT oil is red. The coolant toyota uses is pink. I've not heard of red specks in oil before, but it could be almost anything and I doubt pics of them would help identify what the specks are. To post pics you have to disable javascript in your browser. start reading here November 2023 Server Migration Notes | Page 5 | PriusChat and continue reading if you need more help about how to disable javascript in the browser you use.
Ugly oil cap? A tan-ish color milky substance. Typically, that would be a moisture buildup. Here a photo could help. What does it mean? First guess is head gasket/ coolant leak into engine. Second guess it is winter; water got into the engine. Red Dots, I do not know, could be rust on the dipstick itself. But you say red, so maybe some type of plastic/ gasket material. Not sure if transmission fluid in Prius is red, but I believe the antifreeze is pink. If pink, then again, a lead to a head gasket issue. Perhaps your best and least expensive option is to send an oil sample to Blackstone Labs (or similar) for an analysis. Good luck.
I did switch to high mileage oil for the first time this past interval! And thank you everyone for the input. I’ll keep an eye on it. Hopefully this fresh change will be normal as I’m moving to warmer weather shortly
Or just upload them elsewhere, say google drive, link here. You do need to verify permissions are set to "anyone with link". I've tried JavaScript disable, proved too much for my head.
I bought the car at 60k miles and no signs of head gasket work. I have 115k miles on it now and am the second owner. Very confident it hasn’t had any work done to the head gasket before
